I’m following Anthony Guidice’s “Tables” book and have reached the stage of fitting the drawer runners – the small ‘end table’ project.
The author suggests that the runners be screwed to the side aprons. My question is this: is there any serious objection to using glue instead of screws? I realise that screws appear to allow fine adjustment but is this really the case? To simply glue-slide a runner into its final position with the draw in place seems to me to be a good idea. Granted, once in place that’s it! but for an occasional drawer I’ve never had to make later adjustments. I’d be interested in some American woodworkers’ opinions and advice please.
Fred Page in Herefordshire, UK.
Replies
Gosh... that's a really good question. In years past I've worked in two different furniture factories here on the West Coast. Well, actually three but the last one was in the same facility as the first one, which had gone out of business in the meantime. Anyway, I've never seen anyone do anything other than screw them in. It's something that it just never occurred to me to question.
I wonder... and this is just me pondering outloud as it were... if screwing them in is favored on this side of the pond because of expansion/contraction of the wood issues?
Hopefully someone will jump in here with something more authoritative because now I'm genuinely curious. LOL
Regards,
Kevin
Kevin,
I'm just guessing here, but arn't they made to be replaced some time in the future and therefore glue would inhibit that?
Well, gluing certainly would inhibit replacement. But, I'm not sure that replacement value is what drives the use of screws instead of glue. Perhaps it's something as simple as ease of adjustment and fine tuning in the factory? I imagine that'd be quicker in the long run than gluing them in... and time is money, especially in mass-production.
Regards,
Kevin
When the overly laden drawer is fully extended outtThe force placed on the runners is extreme, resulting in broken runners.
I prefer screws just for that reason. Stein,
I am guessing like everybody else is doing. The reasons I think the runners have been screwed on is the following: a. Speed at the factory, b. The amount of clamps you would need for the drawers, and c. How would you clamp the runners to the inside of the cabinet.
Rex
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